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500 Green Map Projects - a New Milestone!

Along with our locally-led global network of Mapmakers, we are all pleased to celebrate new beginnings while we welcome new Green Map projects from all parts of the globe.

In October we reached the 500 project mark with the involvement of Grupo Aves del Perú. With their own Mapa Verde, they will focus attention on Cusco's struggling bird habitats! The commitment of partners like these underscores our ability to help support biodiversity as well as green innovation, culture and social justice efforts in communities worldwide.

To date in 2008, we have added 72 new Green Map projects, topping all previous year-end totals! October's new projects hail from near (NYU's Tourism program & Rochester NY) and far, including India (Gandhinagar), Romania (Bistrita & Livezile), Germany (Halle & Neustadt), Scotland (Dunipace Green), San Francisco and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Clearly, our efforts to provide support for these initiatives in the form of mapmaking resources, websites, workshop materials, youth modules and project publicity have worldwide impacts!

Announcing New Supporters

We hope you will join our newest supporters in assuring that each of these 502 projects has all the help they need to provide compelling Green Maps to help build sustainable communities. Special thanks to the socially responsible body care company Natura Cosmeticos for helping us invite all Spanish and Portuguese speakers, especially those in Latin America, to take part in exploring and contributing to the Open Green Map; the Herb Block Foundation for helping us increase general levels of citizen participation as part of their mission to secure democracy though involvement; the digital map company Tele Atlas (see below) and a long-time supporter for the third addition of the Composting Green Map of Manhattan.

Celebrate our 500 Project Milestone with a Contribution!

Click GreenMap.org/donate to send your support by credit card. We also welcome checks by mail (PO Box 249, NYC 10002), employer matching funds, transferred stock and volunteered support of all kinds. Email us at info [at] greenmap[.] org< for details or send your address to receive our year-end mailer. Visit our Green Map Store as holiday giving time comes – we have great new T-shirts and bags, printed on demand (more choice, no waste) as well as wonderful local Green Maps and books. Click GreenMap.org/store anytime!

Thank you! We stretch every bit of income to develop powerful, adaptable resources and versatile Green Maps that make a real difference to millions of people.

Learning from the Participatory Open Green Map

With much of our current work focused on this mapmaking and sharing platform (preview it today at OpenGreenMap.org), we are discovering more about its potential to support high-impact sustainability activities every day!

There are now more than 2,000 sites on OGM to explore, comment on and rate. 30 of the first 60 Open Green Maps are now available for public review. And, with its multilingual interface capability now activated, we're getting ready to involve even more people in its use. OGM was recently recognized by Tele Atlas' Maps in Apps Competition which was accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize and exposure to diverse mobile and wireless developers! Read some of the wonderful things the press is saying at OpenGreenMap.org/testimonials. More than 100 new articles are linked in our News section, too.

Updates and Events

Wondering what's new between newsletters? Now you can follow us on Twitter! Link to these one-line notices along with our other media and social networks at GreenMap.org/network!

This fall's travel highlights included being part of the Seoul Design Olympiad, the kick off event for Seoul as the 2010 World Design Capitol. As part of this event, two terrific Green Maps were created by university students to help promote inclusive exploration of local natural areas. Read about this project as well as the world's biggest recycled plastic installation on our Blog!

If you are into GIS and find yourself in New York on November 12th, come to our presentation at GISMO. And if you are an educator, check us out at the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education workshops on November 19th (find an overview of our offerings at GreenMap.org/youth). Stay tuned for December events in our next newsletter.

We have much to be grateful for, including you for your continued interest in our collaborative work to make the world a better place for all. Our best wishes to you!